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March 19, 2011

Lackey Will Follow Lester; Ellsbury's Spring Hitting Clinic

John Lackey will get the ball in Game #2, following Jon Lester in the Red Sox rotation. (That lines Lackey up to pitch the home opener against the Yankees on April 8.) After the man Terry Francona imaginatively refers to as "Lack"* will be Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Sandwiching Matsuzaka between Lester and Lackey buttresses DiceK's obvious weakness going deep into games -- allowing Francona to have an early hook without Proctor-izing Bard or Wheeler with daily pitching.

Francona's rotation has Beckett and Lackey switched from BP's suggestion, which may work out the same way, assuming Beckett can go six innings at least as often as he has the last two seasons.

Jacoby Ellsbury leads all Red Sox players* in batting average (.429), on-base percentage (.474), slugging percentage (.686), OPS (obviously) (1.159), hits (15), runs scored (11), total bases (24), and is tied for the team lead in doubles (3) and home runs (2), and is tied for third in RBI (5).

The Red Sox sent five players to Pawtucket, including shortstop Jose Iglesias (8-for-25 this spring, with a .370 OBP), Lars Anderson (who got a lot of praise for his improved work at first base), and outfielder Juan Carlos Linares.

Dept. of !!!: "Every Box Score Since 1920 on Your Phone ... All 155,000 regular season box scores (from 1920-2010) are now available in a mobile-friendly format via our recently launched mobile site."

Jacoby Ellsbury leads all Red Sox players* in batting average (.429), on-base percentage (.474), slugging percentage (.686), OPS (obviously) (1.159), hits (15), runs scored (11), total bases (24), and is tied for the team lead in doubles (3) and home runs (2), and is tied for third in RBI (5).

Just saw the Globe notes where Tito is quoted as saying that "Youk and Gonzy might be interchangeable". Gonzy works for me. Not AGon, Gonzo or the reprehensible Yo Adrian. Or maybe 'the Gonz'. Will have to see what leaps to mind when we witness his first dong. Speaking of which, I accidentally noticed that COGECO is carrying some MLB-Extra Inning Spring games. Sox and Cards at 1. I'm in. Almost feels like the first day of Spring.